_________                           _________                   
    __  ____/__________  ______________ ______  /___________________
    _  /    __  ___/  / / /_  ___/  __ `/  __  /_  _ \_  ___/_  ___/
    / /___  _  /   / /_/ /_(__  )/ /_/ // /_/ / /  __/  /   _(__  ) 
    \____/  /_/    \__,_/ /____/ \__,_/ \__,_/  \___//_/    /____/  
    ______         _   ,                                             
      / /         ' ) /                /                             
   --/ /_  __  ,   /-<  o ____  _,  __/ __ ______    _. __ ______  _ 
  (_/ / /_/ (_/_  /   )<_/ / <_(_)_(_/_(_)/ / / <_  (__(_)/ / / <_</_
             /                  /|                                   
            '                  |/                                    

                 Crusaders - Thy Kingdom Come FAQ
                     (c) 2008 by Werner Archan
                   

History:
v0.5 first draft: Campaign battles 1-7, some hints and infos.
v0.6 campaign battles 1-8, several stats, campaign strategies, corrections.
v0.7 campaign battles 1-10, more strategies, corrections.
v0.8 campaign battles 1-12, +hero info

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Table of Contents...........................................................|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 1.00 Game Review
 2.00 Heroes
 3.00 Campaign Strategies
 4.00 Campaign Battles
      4.01 The Crossroads Of Two Worlds
      4.02 Rugged Valley
      4.03 The Papal Legate 
      4.04 In The Dead Of The Night
      4.05 The Siege Of Nicea
      4.06 Ambush At Dorylaeum
      4.07 The Long March
      4.08 Battle At Antiochia
      4.09 The Holy Lance
      ----+----desert----+----
      4.10 Scorched Land
      4.11 The Rage Of The Desert
      4.12 The Rage Of The Crusaders
      4.13 The Barren Hills
      4.14
      4.15
 5.00 Relics
 6.00 Units
 7.00 Technical problems with the game, solutions!
 8.00 Credits
 9.00 Contacting Me
10.00 Copyright

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Game Review...........................................................[1.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I've seen a lot of people badmouthing this game.
Most say something along that Crusaders tries to be like Total War, but fails.
These people completely miss the point of this good game.

Crusaders immerses the player in an adventure of a medieval crusader who has
to come to sometimes difficult decisions about his army's buildup, his faith
in god, his support for the church and his lust for power and influence,
while keeping his men alive in their crusade to Jerusalem.

Each battle demands a high tactical and analytical skill.
Terrain matters alot, and you must be able to react to many 'surprises'.

I rate the game with 7.0/10.
If the campaign was longer than the 15 battles, I'd rate it even 8.0/10.
Besides the campaign, there are currently 4 playable scenarios.
Maybe there will pop up some unlockables after finishing the campaign...
I'm still playing the campaign though, and will update my review when
I'm through.

Neocore's website http://www.NeoCoreGames.com is already showcasing screens
of a followup game called King Arthur, featuring complex empire management.
I wish them success for this interesting project!

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Heroes................................................................[2.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
At game start you have to pick one of 5 heroes, each one with different
abilities and attributes which will gain in strength with his experience.

Some abilities just benefit himself and/or his bodyguards,
some benefit specific unit types (like leader of archers),
other benefit the whole army (like offensive strategy).

The most novel one is certainly "faith" - which works like this:
You will be given powerful artifacts for certain tasks, and the higher your
faith is, the stronger this artifacts will become.
You can also increase your faith score if you donate artifacts to the church,
or you simply sell them for cash to buy other stuff.

During the campaign you may acquire additional heroes.
Each hero may have one artifact attached only.


Roger of Hastings
==============================================================================
Leader of archers..: starts with archers and can learn skills to enhance them.
Veteran of battles.: starts with more exp. and experienced bodyguards.
Unique units.......: starts with unique units (2x Norman archers)
Weak faith.........: actually ZERO faith

learnable skills:
-----------------
Cleave...........: Hero attacks several enemies at once. (Active)
                   2 enemies +1 / add. level , 20sec +10sec / add. level
Rage.............: Hero's bodyguards attack faster: +10% / level
Sprint...........: all of hero's units move faster: duration 10sec / level
Offensive Strat..: +3% dmg / level for the whole army (passive)
Leader of archers: +10% shoot / level for all archers in the army (passive)


starting skill: 2 points
starting fame.: 3 : Fra (1) - Loth (0) - Norm (2) - Prov (0)
starting faith: 0
starting cash : 2000
starting units: Hero's heavy infantry (later upgradeable to cavalry)
                Knights afoot
                2 x Norman Archers

opinion: Roger was my 1st choice because I like archery.
-------- Unfortunately, some of my archery units died away during the first
         missions into the game, so I had to struggle quite a bit to
         recover and get back up to strenght.
         
         Archers are great, but you can basically only use them for 5-6 shots,
         then your soldiers will engage the enemy and you cant shoot anylonger
         without endangering your own men...
         
         Naturally they are pretty weak in close combat, and you can easily
         loose a whole unit. At battle 12, I am a +4 leader of archers
         with only 2 archery units... :)
         In the long run, heavy infantry and crusader knights cavalry are
         cheaper and more effective.
         
         If you manage to keep all your archery units alive during the
         first missions, you may build up a great force though.
         Recommended for experienced commanders only!

Lothar von Aachen
==============================================================================
wealthy family...: starts with a hefty sum of money and can recruit cheaper.
unique units.....: starts with unique units (2x Langschilde)
smart strategist.: can learn skills that benefit his army as a whole.
weak in melee....: soldiers need thorough training before they are effective.

learnable skills:
-----------------
Seneschall...: hiring and recruitment cost -5%/level (max= -20%).
Rally........: +15% stamina / level of all units in range of 100m (max= +60%).
Warcry.......: -20% dmg & armor for all enemies in range (100m+50m/add.level)
def. strat...: +3% armor / level for all units (max= +12%)
Weapon master: +10% effectiveness of weapons and armor /level (max= +40%).


starting skill: 1 point
starting fame.: 4 : Fra (1) - Loth (3) - Norm (0) - Prov (0)
starting faith: 1
starting cash : 3000
starting units: Hero's heavy infantry (later upgradeable to cavalry)
                2 x Langschilde (heavy infantry)
                1 x Archers

opinion: Probably to easiest hero to start a campaign.
-------- Able to build up your army very fast. Good skills!

                
Godfrey de Toulouse
==============================================================================
heavy cavalry bodyguards.: starts with a cohort of heavily armored knights.
heavy cavalry leader.....: can learn skills that enhance his cavalry.
strong political ties....: starts with a high fame score.
inexperienced in battles.: starts with fewer skill points and less exp. units.

learnable skills:
-----------------
Swift Attack........: hero attacks 15% faster / level (passive)
Warcry..............: -20% dmg & armor to enemies in range (100+50m/add.level)
Offensive Strat.....: +3% dmg / level for the whole army (passive)
Weapon master.......: +10% effectiveness of weapons and armor /level (max+40%)
Heavy cavalry leader: +30% atk+def for all cavalry in range.
                      duration: 1min., range: 100m +50m /add. level
                      
starting skill: 0 points
starting fame.: 7 : Fra (4) - Loth (0) - Norm (1) - Prov (2)
starting faith: 4   (+1 artifact from Provence fame)
starting cash : 3000
starting units: Hero's heavy cavalry
                1 x crusaders
                2 x archers

opinion: start with highly useful cavalry, high fame, and good skills!
-------- 2nd best choice for beginners.


Roberto of Naples
==============================================================================
heavy inf. leader..: starts with heavy infantry units,
                     can learn skills to enhance them.
Elite soldiers.....: starts with experienced units.
strong faith.......: starts with a strong faith.
weak political ties: starts with low fame.

learnable skills:
-----------------
Cleave............: Hero attacks several enemies at once. (Active)
                    2 enemies +1 / add. level , 20sec +10sec / add. level
Swift Attack......: hero attacks 15% faster / level (passive)
Sprint............: all of hero's units move faster: duration 10sec / level
Rally.............: +15% stamina/lv of all units in range of 100m (max=+60%)
Heavy inf. leader.: +5% atk+def / level for all infantry units (max=+20%)

starting skill: 2 points
starting fame.: 2 : Fra (0) - Loth (0) - Norm (1) - Prov (1)
starting faith: 3   +1 artifact
starting cash : 2000
starting units: Hero's heavy infantry
                2 x crusaders
                1 x archers

opinion: strong starting units! Only 1 really good skill (heavy inf. leader).
-------- Rally skill my be useful too (never tried active skills).


Pedro Luis de Cataviela
==============================================================================
Leader of light arms: starts with light infantry and cavalry, and can learn
                      skills that enhance them.
devoted.............: starts with an exceptional faith
Hit and run tactics.: weak in open combat, but very effective in ambush and
                      evasive tactics.
poor equipment......: no wealthy family so units start with poor equipment.
 
learnable skills:
-----------------
Rage.................: Hero's bodyguards attack faster: +10% / level
def. strat...........: +3% armour / level for all units (max= +12%)
Offensive Strat......: +3% dmg / level for the whole army (passive)
strong faith.........: +10% relic effectiveness / level (max=+40%)
leader of light arms.: +30% atk+def for all l.inf, l.cav, spearmen in range
                       duration: 1min, range 100m + 50m/level

starting skill: 1 point
starting fame.: 3 : Fra (0) - Loth (0) - Norm (0) - Prov (3)
starting faith: 6   +2 artifacts
starting cash : 300
starting units: Hero's heavy infantry
                2 x vassals
                2 x archers
                1 x light cavalry

opinion: Probably the hardest hero for beginners. Good skills though.
-------- Weak starting units. Ambush needs micro-management.

Simon the Proud (norman hero)
==============================================================================
type: heavy infantry (18)
atk: 9 def: 11 (upgradeable)
+strong vs. light infantry +powerful charge -weak on hard terrain

abilities: swift attack 1
           defensive strategy 2
           heavy infantry leader 1

            
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Campaign Strategies...................................................[3.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself,
you will fight without danger in battles.
All warfare is based on deception.  -- Sun Tsu, The Art Of War


Building up your army is expensive.
Lothar von Aachen can build his army the cheapest and fastest.
You need to push his Seneschall skill asap!

You should carry the banner of Lotharingia to get their benefits fast:
15% cheaper replacements for lost soldiers.
30% cheaper weapon & armor upgrades.
Don't buy any upgrades until you can get them cheaper!
Next you need to achieve 5 famepoints for france to get 50% off recruitment
cost for captains.
Normandy's new bodyguards after each battle (2 fame) should be easy to get.

Provence's recruitment cost -20% is most probably too hard to achieve fast,
therefore I advise to give priority to the other factions.

If your fame falls back below the required level, you may also loose benefits
again (represented by darker indicators).

Melee units should get better armor first, archers better weapons.

If you have decent faith (lets say more than 5) you should keep one artifact,
and sell the rest, otherwise sell them all and buy armor instead!
(Artifacts only benefit your bodyguards with you can replace for free anyway.)

Your heroes can learn up to 4 skills.
You should push 2 skills to the max (4), and then wait until you learn the
new skill "Famous leader" which you should then max out!
You'll get that skill from Normandy at enough fame.
Fighting in the desert in full armor is very hard - this skill will help you
(+15% stamina / level; max= +60% stamina).
                 
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|The Campaign Battles..................................................[4.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The campaign consists of 15 battles.
Before each battle you can buy new troops, train veterans, upgrade equipment,
trade skill points for new skills, read some background stories and the
reviews for your campaign trail, and much more.

You receive 1 point of fame for the faction who's banner you carry into
battle (which can be selected by clicking on their flag at the faction menu
before each battle).
You may also receive additional fame + rewards for completing voluntary
secondary objectives. The more you choose - the harder the mission may become,
and if you fail a chosen task, your reputation will suffer.

I tried to complete each mission with all secondary objectives.
Sometimes 2 objectives exclude each other, so you have to choose
the one that suits your goals better.

Don't let the enemy destroy any of your units completely, because even
with 1 man left you can rebuild the unit and keep their experience and
equipment (harder done than said sometimes, unfortunately).
Restocking an experienced unit is however more expensive!

At the journal screen, you can also evaluate which reenforcement units
the crusader princes are offering you for the next battle.
Accepting reinforcements lowers your overall campaign score, but you should
still consider taking them with you - especially for the early missions
when your army is small. They will help you considerably to reduce
casualties among your ranks, or even prevent total annihilation of one
of your own units which could drag you down more and more.
Better take them early on, so maybe you wont need them later.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 01: The Crossroads of two worlds...............................[4.01]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Main goals..: Cross the pass, and destroy the Seljuks at the settlement.
              reward: 4000 ducats
Secondary O.: none
-------------

A pretty easy one.
Just make sure to keep casualties low in your ranks (as always).

Waste the 2 Seljuk groups at the river-crossing.
If you have Archers, you can nearly destroy them completely before they reach
you. Finish them off with your melee units.

After crossing the river, there's an ambush waiting for you.
Place archers at the riverbank, and cross over only with your melee units.
When you see the "!" and the Seljuks attack, pull your melee line back as
long as you can to give the archers more time to hit them.
When your melee units need to engage, put the archers on hold - otherwise
they will also hit your own soldiers.

Next, hit the enemy at the pass with arrows.
The will come running down, give them a nice receipt with your swords.
If you do it right, you can stay out of the range of their hidden archers.

Now send your solders running towards the archers on the hilltop.
You should shower them with arrows as long as possible, maybe even
annihilating them totally by the time your melee units get there.

Put your archers in the location where the enemy archers were, and push
the shield-button to hold this position.

Kill the Seljuks who approach from the settlement, and beware of the
units who did follow you, which will now get to the pass from behind.
They are easily dealt with. (arrows, then melee)

Finally take the settlement.

my best score: 
lost soldiers: 3 - defeated soldiers: 240

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 02: Rugged Valley..............................................[4.02]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: reach the Byzantine Mercenaries and support them against the
              approaching Seljuks. (+1 fame)
              
Secondary O.: (Lotharingia) Kill the Seljuks at the village.
-------------               (+1 fame, 1000 ducats)

This mission is where the game gets tricky (or stupid & unfair).
You did pick the secondary objective of course.
Note, that you must complete all secondary objectives before you manage to
complete the main mission goals, because the battle simply ends when the main
goals are reached (stripping you of any change to still complete secondaries).

First you need to get your army safely through the canyons.
Since there are quite a few ambushes waiting for you, I advise to hold your
archers behind your knights by at least half their shooting range.
So you can then pull your soldiers back when they get ambushed, and your
ranged units have more time to strike the enemy until you need to enter melee.

Once you reach the crossing (left= town, right=tower), you need to station
1 unit of archers (or any other unit if you don't have archers) near the
Byzantine mercenaries (but don't make contact yet, since this would trigger
the Seljuk army approach!)

With the rest of your army free the village from the Turks.
Consider using the high altitude advantage (get on the hill), because the
Turks will be slower once they try to reach you.
There's also at least 1 Seljuk army hidden in the woods, take care.

When you killed them all and freed the village, the main Seljuk army comes
marching through the canyon to the tower.
They are faster than you (if you don't have horses), so use the unit which
you stationed near the mercenaries to make contact now.

If you have archers,send them up to the tower.
From there they can shower the approaching Turks.

You can now also control the mercenaries. Put them where they keep the
turks from reaching the tower, protecting your archers up there.

Set your main force in "crowded" formation, and let them RUN back towards
the coming battle near the tower.
Remember to put them back into ordered formations before the battle!!

There are 2 packs of huge stones prepared near the tower.
Click on them to release them onto the Seljuks at the right time!
It will greatly change the odds to your benefit.

Finish off the enemy, and use the mercenaries fully.
Better they have casualties than you. They don't join you anyway.

my best score: 
lost soldiers: 0 defeated soldiers: 264


+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 03: The Papal Legate...........................................[4.03]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: Escort the papal legate safely to the end of the road (+1 fame).
              
Secondary O.: (France).  Retake and defend the village.
                         (+1 fame Fra., 1500 ducats)
              (Normandy) Recruit the renegade crusaders.
                         (+2 fame Norm., -1 fame Prov., +1000 ducats)
              (Provence) Kill the renegade crusaders.
                         (+2 fame Prov., -1 fame Norm., +1 faith)

Reenforcements: 1 x light cavalry
---------------
              
The papal legate is of course a nuisance (like most escort missions).
No need to wait for the legate. Just move 2+ units of archers ahead to
immediately attack the group of Seljuks at the crossroads.
Place your melee at their flanks to engage the approaching enemy in time.

Place all your troops at the crossroads.
The Archers need to attack the enemy archers in the valley,
and your melee needs to protect them from the approaching warriors.

Every few minutes in this mission there will be an ambush from the woods
targeted at the legate. Make sure he survives (2 melee units can do it).

After the first ambush, your archers can attack the enemy at the tower,
who will rush down, but be totally annihilated when he gets to you.
(Otherwise finish them off with a melee unit)

Send the archers to take over the tower, and then quickly go after the
enemy at the village. Your archers should be able to kill them alone.
They even have the advantage of higher altitude from the tower area.

Now the archers have to go after the troops at the monastery.
One group should go up on the left side, supported by one melee unit
(which needs to come running to their aid).
The other archer group goes up on the right side of the hill.
Thus you can put the archery group which gets attacked first on "evade",
while using the other group to shower their pursuers with arrows.
You could support your archers with 1 melee unit, or send them strolling
through the woods where they will locate the hidden crusaders
(they can't be located by strafing your camera-view through the woods). 

Once you have taken back the monastery, the retarded papal legate
will just start moving again, so put your helpful melee unit in their
fastest formation and RUN to catch up with him and his protectors.

Send the friendly renegade mercenaries to protect the open flank at
the village and station your archers there now.
This way it's easy to hold the village from the attacking waves of Seljuks.

The rest of your army needs to make sure that the dumb legate survives
the ambush near the end of the road.

my best score:
lost soldiers: 3 - defeated soldiers: 308
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 04: In The Dead Of The Night...................................[4.04]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: Destroy the Seljuk Army in their camp. (+1 fame)

Secondary O.: (Provence)... Free Adelmo the priest.
                            (+1 fame Prov., 1 relic)
              (Lotharingia) Capture Malik, champion of the Turks.
                            (+1 fame Loth., +1500 ducats)
              (France) .... Kill Mahmud, Leader of the Turks.
                            (+1 fame Fran., 1 Vassals)

Reenforcements: 1 x Langschilde, 1 x light cavalry
---------------
              
As usual, I try to go after all objectives, even if it costs a few men.
Pause the game, and try to find the location of each target.
After failing this mission a few times, you can locate the approximate
escape-routes of your targets, and thus win the next time.

Here's my plan which worked pretty good:
Split your army in 2 groups.
One groups will free the priest and kill Mahmud, the other group will catch
Malik. Then you need to re-join them for the final confrontation.

Pause the game, split your group and assign numbers to them (ctrl-1, ctrl-2).
'Kampfgruppe Ost' should be your hero + another melee unit.
'Kampfgruppe Sued' should be 2 melee + 1 archer group. (or all melee).
If you have more units, even better.

Set both groups to "crowded" formation, so they can run faster.
Send the 1st group RUNNING to the NE corner of the map, 
and the 2nd group RUNNING to the SW corner, along the western border!
You may need to micromanage a bit, so they don't stumble upon patrols.

Now split your first group in 2 'platoons', and position one unit
just east of the captured priests, outside the radius of the guards.
The other unit should be placed a little bit south (middle of eastern border).

Move your 'Kampfgruppe Sued' to the middle of the southern border,
and spread them apart far enough, so Malik has a hard time evading them.

Now the action begins.
Run up to the guards who guard the priest and kill them.
The camping Seljuks will see you and start running to the main camp.
When you have killed the guards, the priests will start running for the
eastern border - objective one complete.

By now the alarm will go off.
Pause the game, and check in which direction Malik tries to escape
(usually he goes SW, S, SE, or E).
Catch and engage him with your southern Battlegroup.

Mahmud usually tries to escape to the east (where you positioned platoon 2),
so rejoin platoon 1+2 and catch him.

After completing all secondary objectives, you need to immediately
rejoin both battlegroups for the final battle ASAP.
A good location for this is the hill in the SE corner of the map,
depending on what the Seljuks are doing...

Godspeed!

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 05: The Siege Of Nicea.........................................[4.05]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: Defend the camp and your banner! Protect Reinhardt?

Secondary O.: (Provence, n) Support Andronikos
                            reward: +2 fame Prov., -1 fame Norm., +1 faith
              (Normandy, e) Kill Andronikos, the champion from Constantinople 
                            reward: +2 fame Norm., -1 fame Prov., 1 x archers
              (France, e)   Kill Amin Shah, leader of the Seljuks.
                            reward: +1 fame Fra., 1000 ducats

Reenforcements: 2 x light cavalry
---------------
 
Note: If the Seljuks ever take over the flag in your camp, it's game over -
even if your whole army stands right beside them! What a stupid design choice.

This is by the way the same map as "Dead Of The Night" but in daylight,
and with some added fortifications at the camp.

Ok, the 1st attack wave comes from the NW towards the western entrance.
Place your archers in the NE camp corner.
Place 2 melee units behind them, to give cover from the soon to come riders.
Place 2 "shieldwalls" of crusaders in "halt" mode to close the opening.
Place 2 cavalry corps at the far side of the opening.

When the Seljuk warriors reach your shieldwall, send your cavalry
after their 2 archery groups (evading all warriors!).
They will make short work of them.

By now you'll get a message: "Seljuk light cavalry coming from the south".
They will try to kill your archers, that's why we put 2 units behind them.
Make sure the enemy cavalry gets stuck there!

When your cavalry have dealt with the archers, put them in "crowded" mode,
and send them galloping to the woody area at the middle of the northern
border. Amin Shah will spawn in the woods, trying to get to the big army
directly east of there. Cut him down when he exits the woods, or while
still inside. You may get under archery fire from his main army,
but you'll kill him very fast, and not loose many men.
Send your riders in crowded mode back to the hilly area just outside
the Northern entrance. They should wait there for their next move.

When the skirmish in the NW has ended, send 2 melee units to the southern
entrance. Put them in "do not engage" mode!
The rest of your army needs to run to the northern entrance and position them
there.

Now we have 2 individual skirmishes at about the same time:
A.) The units in the south will see Andronikos move from the east towards
    some seljuk warriors. While they engage and hurt each other,
    place your units to prevent the survivors from escaping.
    Then attack and kill Andronikos.
    
B.) Use your archers in the North to pull the enemy army.
    When the enemy reaches your shieldwall, send your cavalry in a
    half-circle towards the archers in the rear and cut them down.
    You can even counterattack with melee units, depending on the situation.

The final enemy troops come from the west.
Rejoin your forces and stop them either outside or inside the camp.
They must not take your flag!
Godspeed!

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 06: Ambush At Dorylaeum........................................[4.06]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: Defend the camp and launch a counterattack.

Secondary O.: (Normandy,e)... Take the watchtower and light the fire.
                              reward: +1 fame, 1000 ducats
              (France,n)..... Kill the Fatimid leader.
                              reward: +1 fame, 2000 ducats
              (Lotharingia,h) Protect Rainulf of Apulia
                              reward: +1 fame, 3000 ducats

Reenforcements: 2 x archers
---------------
              
You should have 3 units of archers for this battle to be easy.
Consider taking the crusader-princes support units (2 archery groups)!

Your army has to reach the river crossing in the east.
The way is blocked by 2-3 archery units and some warriors hidden in the woods.

Order your crusaders into a shield wall and slowly move forward.
They will take the arrows pretty good, and provide cover from the warriors.
Your archery units should be closely behind them, taking on one enemy
archer unit at a time.
When an enemy archer unit is down to a few men you should switch to the next
target in order to have the maximum effect of destruction.

At the river crossing you'll notice that the far side is in the range of
some more enemy archers (and hidden warriors in the woods).

Use the same strategy as before. Send your shieldwall across, followed
by your archers. It's pretty easy. Once you have dealt with the warriors,
you should send a fast unit after the archers, so you can stop them faster.

Next is the tower. Same strategy again. crusaders followed by archers.
The rest of your units cover the archers backs.

The Fatimid leader will now appear at the eastern border in the woods.
Take him out (with your rearguard) before he can escape.

Once you have taken the tower, you will get 2 cavalry support units.

Now use all you got to defend the crusader camp, especially of course
Rainulf of Apulia. Then kill the remaining enemies.
Pretty easy mission.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 07: The Long March.............................................[4.07]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mission Goal: Protect and escort Geoffrey of Clermont.

Secondary O.: (Normandy) Locate the assassins' camp and deal with them.
                         reward: +1 fame, 1 x light cavalry
              (France)   Kill Sokman, son of the Syrian Seljuk leader.
                         reward: +1 fame, 2500 ducats
              (Provence) Kill the Seljuk warriors at the village.
                         reward: +1 fame, +1 faith

Reenforcements: 2 x vasalls
---------------
              
Geoffrey will be attacked very soon, but don't worry about him.
He can defend himself good enough until the time when you get control over
his group of knights.

Your first targets are the archers and warriors in the woods.
Move a shieldwall forward, and fire at the archers from behind.
When you finished them, you should also destroy the hidden Seljuk swordsmen
who are a bit to the south in the same woods.

Now you may be tempted to cross through the canyon to reach
the crusaders' camp, but if you look closely, you will notice 2 packs
of stones prepared on top of the left mountain.
There's a hidden assassin unit waiting to let the stones crush your army.

You could pass unharmed, if you sent your units through one after another,
but since this is time-consuming and risky, you should instead not use the
canyon at all but climb the hill, and attack the assassins from behind!
Move your whole army up this way!

You will now get control over Geoffrey. Let him join your ranks at the hill.
It is the best location for destroying the big army which will
soon come from the east through the canyon.

Place your archers in the middle of the hill but not on the top!
The top is tempting, but it's better to have them a bit below,
because the enemy archers will have to leave the woods then
and provide better targets.

Protect your archers left flank by a shieldwall, and the right flank by
some other melee units. When you have stopped the enemy, you should
also send fast units (or running crowded) after his annoying archers.
I had to chase his archers through half the desert until I caught them,
but at least it kept my casualties down.

Reassemble your troops, then move them south towards the assassins hideout.
It's a one-way valley with tents inside.
You should surround the whole woods there with your soldiers.
If you're lucky, you can pull the assassin out of the woods, where they
will be easier to kill. Then move your troops towards their tents,
until you complete this secondary objective.

Sokman is standing on a hill to the south. He seems to be waiting for
better times to come there. Kill him and his cavalry units.
Pretty easy task for you.

The remaining Seljuk village is just around the corner.
Another standard battle.

Finally move your troops and Geoffrey to the southern end of the road
to complete your mission.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 08: Battle At Antiochia........................................[4.08]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: Prevent the Seljuk armies joining forces.

Secondary O.: (Normandy, normal) Defend Edgar Atheling
               reward: +1 fame, 2500 ducats
              
              (Lotharingia, easy) Meet the Fatimid envoy.
               reward: +2 fame Lotharingia, -1 fame France, 2500 ducats
              
              (France, normal) Kill the Fatimid envoy.
               reward: +2 fame France, -1 fame Lotharingia, 1 relic

Reenforcements: 2 x light cavalry
---------------

My secondary objectives in this battle were:
Defend Edgar Atheling for Normandy, and
Meet the Fatimid leader for Lotharingia.
Simply because I couldn't afford to loose the cheaper armor deals which
Lotharingia had granted me, and secondly the unnecessary fight against
the Fatimids would surely have cost a few lives also on my side.
So sorry, Frenchies!

First, assign practical hotkeys to certain teams. I did:
1: 3 x crusaders
2: Hero + Knights afoot
3: 1 x Archers
4: 1 x light cavalry
5: 2 x light cavalry (reenforcement units from the princes)

Now set all your units to crowded mode, and rush over the river.
Put your archers on "evade" mode, and go for the Seljuk soldiers at the hill
straight ahead. Use your 3 x crusaders in a strong formation to back them up
and give the approaching Seljuks a hard welcome.

Once the Seljuks are "stuck" in your shieldwall, you should also attack them
from behind (cavalry, or anything) to finish them off faster.

By now the 1st big Seljuk army should appear in the SE corner.
It looks quite huge and consists of about 4 x warriors and 8 x archers.
But don't worry, they are no match for your strenght.

Move your archers up the hill with the tower, and place your crusaders
in a shieldwall formation facing the new army behind them.
Your 2 x cavalry should go around that hill to the right and take a waiting
position at the right flank.
Your hero + all other units should stand at the left flank, near the lake.

Once the enemy warriors come running towards you(r archers), move the
crusader shieldwall ahead to catch them all (use hero to help out if need be).
Make sure the archers get a new target (enemy archers).

Now's the time to send in your 2 x cavalry from the right after some archers.
Each cavalry unit goes after different targets.
Also send your left flank after the archers (cavalry!) and any unoccupied
Seljuk unit.
The enemy archers wont do much harm since they're occupied with running
and dying. 

Once the crusaders have done their job, you should send at least 2 of them
back to the convergence of the 2 roads (a bit north of tower).
This is the location where  Edgar Atheling - who's fleeing from the 2nd
Seljuk Army from the SW - will take a stand.
Send your archers there too.

Your archer-slaughtering units should also return there asap, except
your 1 x cavalry which you need to send up North along the eastern border.
They are to find the Fatimids, who will probably be in the woods
just south of the river.

The first attack towards Edgar will come the NW in form of 2 cavalry units
which are easy to stop before they can touch him (crusaders).
Help the enemy riders to meet their promised huris quickly,
then reform a standard defensive line towards the SE army.

cavalry - heavy armor - cavalry
support -   archers   - support

Make sure to find the Fatimid envoy if you didn't already!
If you found him you can now send your contact team to help at the frontlines.

Use your cavalry in a half circle and try to attack the enemy from all sides.
Make sure you don't harm friendly troops with your archers.

I played the mission 2 times with these results:
 8 vs. 500 (missed the envoy)
28 vs. 500

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 09: The Holy Lance.............................................[4.09]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: 1. Protect Raimond of Aguilers.
              2. Defeat Kerbogha's army (capture the Seljuk location banner)

Secondary O.: (Provence, n)    Capture Masud, the Seljuk noble.
                               reward: +1 fame, 1 relic
              
              (Normandy, h)    Elliminate the rebellious Seljuks.
                               reward: +1 fame, 1 x Seljuk mounted archers
              
              (Lotharingia, e) Defend Reinhardt.
                               reward: +1 fame, 1500 ducats

Reenforcements: 1 x archers, 1 x knights afoot
---------------

OK, this battle is going to be pretty annoying.
At the start there will be so much fog - you can hardly see anything.
The fog will vanish after 5 minutes.

The battles may end up a bit chaotic, so at least prepare some kind of plan,
and be ready to improvise.

Here's my basic setup:
group1: 3 x crusaders
group2: hero, 2 x knights afoot
group3: archers + norman archers
group4: anything on horseback for melee.

Put your units in crowded formation for faster movement, but remember to
get them ordered in time for contact (I wont mention that anymore!).

Facing south,
group1 rushes the enemy on the right hill,
group2 rushes the enemy on the left hill,
whole cavalry goes straight south, then takes a right turn to kill the
fleeing Seljuks, and then go for Masud on the right hill.

Archers are basically worthless as long the fog lasts,
move them towards the trebuchet but keep out of reach.

Reinhardt will announce to go after the trebuchet which is guarded by soldiers.
ASAP move groups1+2 towards the trebuchet to help him.

Fog should be gone now. Use your archers to attack the eastern enemies,
and back them with some melee to finish the job.

When retarded Raimond goes for the enemy ranks give him some support units,
so they don't slaughter him.

After the whole chaos clears up a bit, take out the remaining units,
and go for the lot of archers, cavalry-archers in the SE.
(crowded approach) send your cavalry after them too, any maybe even Reinhardt.

Finally take the flag, and count your losses.
Good luck!

scores:
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers: 22 - def. soldiers: 390 (1st try, 2 second.o.)
            0 - lost soldiers: 39 - def. soldiers: 487 (2nd try, 3 second.o.)

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 10: Scorched Land..............................................[4.10]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: 1. Capture at least 3 locations (of 4).
              2. Defeat Hamdan Sheik and his Nomad riders.
              
Secondary O.: (Provence, n)... Kill the master assassins
                               reward: +1 fame Prov., 1 x white company
               
              (Lotharingia, n) Defeat the fleeing Fatimid envoy
                               +1 fame Loth., 2500 ducats
               
              (France, n)..... Protect the Venetians (2 +  white company)
                               +1 fame Fran., 3000 ducats

Reenforcements: 2 x white company
---------------

Quite an easy mission actually. One to relax a bit :)
If you select all secondary objectives, you need a bit of luck and probably
a few tries until it works out nicely with few casualties.

my army: 1. 3 x crusaders
         2. hero, knights afoot
         3. crusader knights, light cavalry
         4. archers, mounted Seljuk archers

The stranded Venitians are straight ahead.
Stationed a bit before them though is the Fatimid envoy.
If you get too close to him, he'll either take off north (good), or more
probably west (bad!). So I decided: the Venitians have to wait a bit.
They are able to kill the 2 attacking Seljuk units themselves (barely).

Along the coast there are Fatimid archers + warriors on a hill with far reach.
Send 3 x crusaders just outside of their range, then order them into
shieldwall, climb the hill and attack those units.
Let your archers follow the crusaders and engage once in reach.

Your cavalry should be outside the archers range, right flank of crusaders.
All your footsodiers just move north.

Once the battle on the hill has started, you can rush your beacharmy north,
your cavalry must catch the envoy!

Once these skirmishes are won, you have all the time of the world to plan
your next move. :)
Just make sure you place the Venetians in a safe corner if they are few.
(in the doubtful case that they have still strong numbers, use them in battle)

The remaining Seljuk/Fatimid army is a wobbling mix, sometimes moving
between the oasis and the northern assassin town.
It's probably safest to concentrate your whole army at the hill beside
the Venetians ship, create a strong attack formation and pull in the enemy.

                  crusaders - crusaders - crusaders
                 cav - hero - archers - knights - cav

Pull the enemy with archers, stop them with your crusaders, then
go for the archers at the back with your cavalry!

The master assassin is hidden in the northern village.
Make sure you send 1-2 *strong* units there to kill him!
He will appear once you move in/around the village.

Finally take the main objectives (flags).
Godspeed!

scores:
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers: 37 - def. soldiers: 438
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers: 13 - def. soldiers: 438          
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 11: The Rage Of The Desert.....................................[4.11]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: 1. Kill Mansur al-Hakim (fleeing Fatimid)
              2. Capture the Fatimid village.

Secondary O.: (Provence, e)... Occupy the ancient mosque
                               reward: +1 fame Prov., +1 faith

              (Normandy, h)... Protect all your crusaders
                               reward: +1 fame Norm., 1 x cavalry

              (Lotharingia, h) Protect Edgar of Atheling
                               reward: +1 fame Loth., 1 x Langschilde

Reenforcements: 1 x white company, 1 x Langschilde
Restrictions..: only 5 units + hero allowed               
---------------

Archers are useless at the beginning because of the raging sandstorm.

my army setup: hero (upgraded to heavy cavalry), Crusader Knights (h.cav)  
               2 x crusaders
               1 x Langschilde, 1 x Knights afoot
               (all units heavily upgraded by now)

Don't bother about the 'fleeing' Mansur al-Hakim,
he'll take a calamitous waiting position west of the village...

Edgar of Atheling is well known as a retarded moron, but you have to help
him anyway to survive. He's on a marathon run towards the enemy village,
therefore you have to put your 4 x heavy infantry into crowded formation,
and let them run towards the village too.
If they manage to overtake the fool, you should let them rest a few seconds
until he catches up, order them back in a strong formation, and
attack the enemies at the village.
Best to create a pincer: 2 units on each flank, Edgar in the middle.

Your 2 heavy cavalry units should in the meantime ride towards the mosque.
Not in a straight line though, but along the mountain in the center,
then taking a left turn towards the mosque.
Thus they may be able to evade some of the dug-in sandworms.
Once they reach the mosque, 2 sandworm units will pop up in this obvious trap.
Don't worry though, your germanic steel will reduce them to vulture food.

Somewhere at the SE corner of the map, there are some crusader units lost
in the desert (3 x archers). You could ride there and get their thanks,
but I think it doesn't give you any benefits.
So you may better send your cavalry units to the village where they surely
can help out a bit in the final attack of the Fatimids.

Mansu al-Hakim seems to have planned a trap at the village.
From 3 directions enemies are getting closer.
Protect Edgar from 2 sides (i.e. shieldwall) to spare him from
receiving the full load of the attack.
Pray that Edgar is lucky, and finish off all enemies.
Mansur should be among the dead too.

scores:
lost teams: 1 - lost soldiers: 46 - def. soldiers: 418 (pretty bad, first try)
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers:  5 - def. soldiers: 334 (without mosque job)
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers: 21 - def. soldiers: 406 (all objectives)

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 12: The Rage Of The Crusaders..................................[4.12]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: 1. Capture and defend the Fatimid trebuchet
              2. Capture the Fatimid camp

Secondary O.: (Normandy, n)... Kill the injured Fatimid prince
-------------                  reward: +1 fame Norm., 1 x Norm. Archers

              (Lotharingia, e) Find the spies
                               rew.: +2 fame Loth., -1 fame Fra., 2000 ducats

              (France, n)..... Kill the spies
                               rew.: +2 fame Fra., -1 fame Loth., 2000 ducats

Reenforcements: cavalry, crusaders
---------------

A pretty easy battle finally. Somehow my hero managed to receive a direct
trebuchet hit in my first try and met his demise though :)

my army setup: 5 x heavy infantry (crusaders, Langschilde)
               2 x heroes (Roger, Simon)
               1 x Norman archers
               1 x Seljuk mounted archers (VERY useful here!)
               1 x crusader knight
               1 x cavalry
               1 x light cavalry

You need to capture the trebuchet within 10 minutes (easy!).
Let all your soldiers run out of the woods, then attack with all archers.
(evasive mode) Your soldiers need to be in defensive position when the
enemy comes downhill.

Use the same tactic to get on the hill and capture the trebuchet.

Build a defenseline infront of the trebuchet, and attack the enemy
with your archers AND the trebuchet! YES, thats aewsome!

Make sure to assign new targets to your ranged units, and finally
put them on hold, so you dont hit your own men!!!

Once you have eliminated the threat, you can rest, make yourself a cup
of coffee. :)

Send some mounted unit towards the woody area at the seaside to make
contact with the fatimid spies (or send a stronger force, if you decided
to kill them for France).

In the meantime, send about 4 x infantry + all archers towards the village
where the prince is hiding. Kill the bodyguards.
I think that already checks this objective. If not, go closer to the village
and kill the assassins there too.

Finally move all you got back to the trebuchet hill.
Set up a defense line left of the trebuchet, and place your cavalry on
the right opening (just to make sure).

If you have mounted Seljuk archers, use them to pull in the troops from the
far camp (very funny!) Otherwise use some rested cavalry unit to pull them
towards your infantry line.

Hit them with the trebuchet as long as you can, and watch the awesome
animations of the trebuchet in close-up, and also the impacts!!!

Asign new targets to your ranged units, and finish the poor guys.

               
scores:
lost teams: 0 - lost soldiers: 8 - def. soldiers: 432
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 13: The Barren Hills...........................................[4.13]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal: 1. Capture all 5 locations
              2. Defend at least 3 locations

Secondary O.: (Provence, n) Defend both villages until sunset
               reward: +1 fame, 1 relic
               </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
              (Normandy, n) Defend the tents and the mosque
               reward: +1 fame, 4000 ducats
               
              (France, h)  Rescue the prisoners, escort them to the oasis...
               reward: +1 fame, 1 chevaliers
               
Reenforcements: crusader knights, Norman archers
---------------


               


               
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 14: ...........................................................[4.14]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal:

Secondary O.:
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Battle 15: ...........................................................[4.15]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mission Goal:

Secondary O.:


+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Relics................................................................[5.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

St. Cuthbert's bones
     +5% armor piercing / faith for your bodyguards
Tears of the blessed virgin
     +5% hitpoints / faith for bodyguards
St. Peters locket
     +5% stamina / faith for bodyguards
St. Gabriel's horn
     +5% damage / faith for bodyguards
St. Patrick's hand
     +5% attack speed / faith for bodyguards, value: 5000
St. Sebastian's blood
     +20% stamina recovery /faith for bodyg., value: 4000
     

(more as they're dug up)
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Units.................................................................[6.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+


Unit           A  D  R Specials
=========     ======== ========
Archers        3  4  6 +long range missile -weak in melee
Norm. Archers  3  4  8 +long range missile -weak in melee
Vassals        5  5  0 +fast movement +on all terrain -vs. mounted units
white company  6  7  0 +fast movement +on all terrain -vs. mounted units
Spearmen       6  5  0 +vs. mounted +in formation +vs. armoured units
Pilgrims       7  6  0 +vs. mounted +in formation +vs. armoured units
Crusaders      8  9  0 +vs. light inf. +powerful charge -on hard terrain
Knights afoot 10  7  0 +vs. light inf. +vs. armoured -on hard terrain
Flemish Guards 6 12  0 +vs. light inf. +vs. ranged -on hard terrain
Langschilde    9 11  0 +vs. light inf. +powerful charge -on hard terrain
Light Cavalry  7  7  0 +fast movement +strong on open terr. -weak on hard t.
Cavalry        9  9  0 +fast movement +strong on open terr. -weak on hard t.
Crusader Kn.  11  9  0 +fast movement +strong on open terr. -weak on hard t.
Sel.mnt.arch.  4  4  7 +long range m. + fast movement -weak in melee

The stats presented here are without any experience and upgrades.
(more to come)
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Technical game-problems and solutions.................................[7.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Black screen, unsupported signal to monitor.
--------------------------------------------
When I first got the game I had the above problem.
The reason was, that I didn't have an original driver for my monitor
which clearly stated it's capabilities.
So the game just used the best resolution and frequency (150Hz) to start up.
Thankfully NeoCore support at Virginplay responded very fast with
a solution.
If you experience the same problem, you should get the little free tool:
ReForce (RefreshForce V1.10) from http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/
With this tool you can edit all allowed display specs, and del the bad ones.

Alt-tab switching slows down the game.
--------------------------------------
Well, just don't do it.
At least on my machine, I need to completely exit and reload the game
to get things back up to speed.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Credits & links.......................................................[8.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I would like to thank:

NeoCore games for this great game!
http://www.neocoregames.com

The Alex Jones Radio Show (free shoutcast 24/7)
for providing some good entertainment during the creation of this FAQ.
http://www.infowars.com

GameFaqs for doing a wonderful service to the gaming community with this site.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Contact...............................................................[9.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
My email is: rittmeister(at)inbox(dot)lv

When you contact me, please label your subject.
Secondly, please don't send any spam.
If you send me tips or infos about the game, I may include them in a revision
of this FAQ with credits to you.
I'm especially interested in relics, units, stats that are missing.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Copyright............................................................[10.00]|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
This guide is copyright (c) 2008 by Werner Archan, all rights reserved.

This text may be not be reproduced under any circumstances
except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site
or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission
from the original author.
Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display
is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

~EOF.